Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, and more particularly, to a display device with a narrow bezel and a driving method thereof.
Discussion of the Related Art
Flat panel display (FPD) devices are applied to various electronic products such as portable phones, tablet personal computers (PCs), notebook computers, etc. The FPD devices include liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panels (PDPs), organic light emitting diode (OLED) display devices, etc. Recently, electrophoretic display (EPD) devices are widely used as FPD devices.
In such FPD devices, LCD devices display an image using the optical anisotropy of liquid crystal. Because the LCD devices have a thin thickness, a small size, and low power consumption and realize a high-quality image, the LCD devices are widely used.
Research on LCD devices can be classified into a technical aspect and a design aspect. Designs more appealing to consumers are increasingly required. Therefore, efforts are being continuously made for minimizing (slimming) the thicknesses of LCD devices.
Moreover, research is being actively done on a technology (narrow bezel technology) that narrowly forms a border portion of an LCD device. Specifically, research is being actively done on technology that minimizes left and right border portions incapable of displaying an image in the front of an LCD device, and increases a portion that displays an image, thereby providing a broader and greater screen to a user.
For example, FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a related art LCD device. As shown, the related art LCD device includes a panel 10 having a display area displaying an image and a non-display area around the display area; a gate driver 20 for driving a plurality of gate lines formed in the panel 10; a data driver 30 for driving a plurality of data lines formed in the panel 10; and a timing controller 40 for driving the data driver 30 and the gate driver 20.
The data driver 30 generally is mounted in an IC area of a tape carrier package (TCP) or mounted on a base film 60 of the TCP in a chip-on film (COF) type, and connected to the panel 10 in a tape automated bonding (TAP) type. The data driver 30 is mounted on an upper end portion or lower end portion of the non-display area.
The gate driver 20 is mounted in the IC area of the TCP or mounted on the base film 60 of the TCP in the COF type, and connected to the panel 10 in the TAP type. The gate driver 20 is also mounted in the non-display area in a gate-in panel (GIP) type. Further, the gate driver 20 is generally disposed in a direction vertical to the data driver 30. That is, because the gate lines and the data lines are arranged vertically to each other in the panel 10, the gate driver 20 and the data driver 30 are also disposed vertically to each other in the non-display area.
Recently, as the lateral widths of LCD devices increase, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the gate driver 20 for driving the gate lines is disposed symmetrically to the left and right non-display areas of the LCD device. Further, each of the left and right non-display areas of a GIP type LCD device, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is divided into a GND+scribe area “a”, a GIP signal area “b”, a GIP circuit area “c”, and a Vcom area “d” in sequence from the outermost portion thereof.
Moreover, in LCD devices having the TCP type, COF type, or chip-on glass (COG) type instead of the GIP type, each of left and right non-display areas is divided into the above-described four areas. However, even in the LCD device having the above-described configuration, research is being continuously done on narrow bezel technology for minimizing left and right non-display areas.
Generally, the technology of reducing a size of the GIP circuit area “c” is used for realizing a narrow bezel. However, a method of reducing the size of the GIP circuit area “c” has a limitation.
To overcome the limitation, a method that reduces a width of the Vcom area 50 “d” in which a common line for applying a common voltage (Vcom) to the display area is formed. However, when the Vcom area 50 “d” decreases, factors which degrade quality of the LCD device like horizontal crosstalk occur. For this reason, the method of reducing the Vcom area 50 “d” also has a limitation. Moreover, a method that reduces the ground and scribe area “a” or the GIP signal area “b” formed for applying a signal to a GIP has a limitation.